Milwaukee Brewers Top Prospect Garrett Mitchell Promoted to Double-A

In the first round of last year’s MLB Draft, the Milwaukee Brewers believed that they got a steal when outfielder Garrett Mitchell from UCLA fell to them at pick 20. Although Mitchell has not been a part of the Brewers’ organization for long, especially with no minor league season in 2020 due to COVID-19, he has already shown why Milwaukee was so excited to land him.

Mitchell did join the Brewers for spring training this year, where he primarily came off the bench. Over 22 appearances that included three starts, Mitchell slashed .355/.394/.548 for a .942 OPS over 31 at-bats. As a result, he bypassed low-A Carolina and began the minor league season with the high-A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers.

While there, Mitchell would miss much of April with a leg injury but was excellent when on the field. Over 28 games with the T-Rats, he would go on to slash .359/.504/.620 totaling an impressive 1.124 OPS. Mitchell would also add five home runs, an additional seven extra-base hits, and 27 walks. On top of that, he flashed his glove in the outfield and displayed that speed and base running ability with 12 swipes.

With Mitchell dominating the high-A level, on Sunday, the Milwaukee Brewers made the decision to move him up to Double-A Biloxi. But, of course, that wasn’t without Mitchell leaving the Timber Rattlers on an extreme high note, going 4-6 that same day with two home runs and six RBIs.

"“Garrett opened a lot of eyes in spring training, and has continued to do so during his time with the Timber Rattlers,” Brewers farm director Tom Flanagan said via the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “He has excelled at Wisconsin and has shown us that he has mastered that level and was ready for the next challenge.”"

So now that Mitchell is with Biloxi, I imagine the question on the minds of many fans is, when is will we see him in a Milwaukee Brewers uniform?

An educated and somewhat conservative guess is that Mitchell will finish out the 2021 season in Biloxi, then possibly begin the 2022 season with Triple-A Nashville, where he could perhaps become a September call-up next season when rosters typically expand during that final month of the season.

Of course, there is also the potential that he could be called up sooner than September of 2022, depending on how well he is playing in Nashville and what the Brewers’ outfield situation looks like.

With Jackie Bradley Jr. having a player option for 2022, the Brewers holding a club option for Avisail Garcia, and next season being the final year of Lorenzo Cain’s contract–this Milwaukee outfield could look much different a year from now, possibly making the team more motivated to get Mitchell to the big leagues.

There is also the other side of the coin where by next September, Mitchell still isn’t ready–and that could happen as well. Clearly, there is a lot that has to play out between now and then, but I would say having Mitchell in Milwaukee by the end of the 2022 season is certainly a possibility.

For the time being, however, Mitchell finding so much success in high-A and already being elevated to Double-A ball is fantastic news for the Brewers organization and their fans. It’s early, and a lot can change, but he’s lived up to that first-round build so far.